It's Best to Solve Word Searches in a Group
by MidnightxBluexBlack
Summary: "One minute, he had been weaseling his way out of Otose-san's clutches so that he could put off paying his rent for another month, and the next thing he knew, he was here, in a warehouse somewhere chained to a huge-ass bomb with Zura and Okita."


_Summary: "One minute, he had been weaseling his way out of Otose-san's clutches so that he could put off paying his rent for another month, and the next thing he knew, he was here, in a warehouse somewhere chained to a huge-ass bomb with Zura and Okita." _

The inspiration for this fic attacked me viciously while I was solving my own word search. The idea kind of just started dancing in front of my face, and I couldn't relax until I had written it. I did my best to remain true to the usual flow of Gintama, but we'll see how I did.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Gintama_. It is property of Hideaki Sorachi and Viz Media. Please support them by purchasing the graphic novels at your local book store.

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Sweat beaded down his brow. His hand hesitated over the page, the pen in his hand inches from the bold black letters spread out, block like, below the tip. His silver eyebrows were knitted together in consternation, and he muttered to himself under his breath, the words flowing one right after the other, nonstop.

"Find 'pretty,' find 'pretty.' P! P-r-a-t—Ah, that's close enough, right? Definitely close enough, right! Tell me it's close enough! I'll give you 300 yen!"

"Boss, I don't think it's close enough. It's definitely not close enough. Try harder." Okita glanced over before returning to the page in front of him, moving swiftly and methodically over the jumble of letters. He reached down and circled a word, crossing it off the list in one motion.

Gin looked up. He didn't know how it had gotten to this point. One minute, he had been weaseling his way out of Otose-san's clutches so that he could put off paying his rent for another month, and the next thing he knew, he was here, in a warehouse somewhere chained to a huge-ass bomb with Zura and Okita. Something just wasn't adding up.

"O-Oi, Zura, how're you doing?" He questioned, another bead of sweat snaking its way down the back of his neck.

"It's not 'Zura,' it's 'Katsura,'" The long haired man responded, almost automatically. After a moment, he nodded seriously, pen resting gently on the paper. "I'll be finished in a minute," he stated, finality in his tone. Gin's eyes grew wide, and he leaned over, trying to see Zura's answers. His wide-eyed look of amazement turned to, well, the same wide-eyed look of amazement, but for a different reason. Somehow, Zura's answers just didn't make sense.

"Uh, Zura, since when is 'huhgem' a word?"

Katsura stared at Gintoki as though he were speaking an alien language. "If you can't find the right answer, you must pave the way with your own path," he stated sagely before returning his attention to the word search before him once again.

Gin chuckled. He wasn't sure what was funny about this situation, but he also wasn't sure why his chuckle sounded like the noise a dying rabbit might make. Why did it have to be word searches, of all things? When the three of them had woken up, a note had been tied to the bomb that they were tied to, with instructions. Apparently, the bomb was scheduled to blow inside of an hour, but if they all managed to solve their assigned word search within the allotted time, they would be spared.

At first, Gin had been confident. Okita seemed to be decimating his puzzle right from the beginning, and even he had managed to find a word ('puppy,' his puzzle was all words starting with the letter 'p') within the first couple of minutes. It had almost seemed as though they might have a chance. Now, with only fifteen minutes left and only two words found, he had to wonder if he was going to get out of this mess he had somehow been dragged into.

He returned his eyes to his page. Mentally sobbing like a little baby wasn't going to help him solve this demon puzzle. "Pretty," he murmured. "P-r…"

Okita risked another glance at his fellow prisoners. His puzzle was almost finished now. He only had a couple of words left—they had given him a little trouble earlier. He returned his eyes to the page, the tip of his pen following his gaze as he sifted through the puddle of letters.

'There are three hotspots for the word _elegance_,' he thought to himself. 'But none of them are the true location. It's still hidden somewhere…Ah!" He reached down, circling the elusive word. One left. Barely a second later, his hand returned to the paper and he circled his final word. Breathing a sigh of relief, he relaxed slightly. Ten minutes still to go before the end. He glanced over at his unwilling companions.

Katsura, the bastard, had stopped working, Okita observed, his hand twitching. Oh, how he wished he was holding his bazooka right now. He had a perfect shot. Gintoki was still working, almost frantically. He glanced up and saw that the Shinsengumi captain had stopped working.

"Psst, Okita-kun," the silver haired samurai whispered. "Hey, finish mine, too! There's no way I'm gonna finish on time!"

"Ah, Boss, that's not fair! Finish your own work," Okita responded indignantly. Seven minutes left.

"Come on, don't be so stingy," Gin begged.

"Do it yourself."

They argued back and forth for another couple of minutes. When they hit the five minute mark, a clock came to life on the front of the bomb and started counting down quite cheerfully. Gin could almost hear it laughing manically at him, eyes filled with tears of mirth. He shook his head. Focus.

All too soon, it seemed as though 30 seconds was flashing on the screen.

"Boss, are you finished yet?" Okita demanded, looking over. There were only three words circled on the page.

"This is discraceful, Gintoki! How dare you call yourself a samurai?" Katsura demanded, also glancing over.

"I don't want to hear that from the guy who didn't find any words, Zura!" Gin shouted.

"Boss, 15 seconds left!"

"It's not Zura! It's Katsura!"

As three seconds flashed on the screen, Katsura and Okita were working in perfect synchronization. They both reached out, grabbing the back of Gintoki's naturally permed head, and slamming it forward, his forehead making contact with the bomb's metal casing. A deafening _crack_ spit the air, and for a moment, everything froze.

Katsura and Okita, who had both squeezed their eyes shut and braced for impact, now moved cautiously, cracking their eyes open. The bomb's timer was frozen, stuck on one second, the red numbers staring back at them mockingly. The shackles that bound them snapped open, releasing their unwilling prisoners.

"Oh, that worked better than expected. Thanks, Boss," Okita responded.

The pair blinked, forgetting their differences for a moment as they stared down at the Yorozuya on the ground, blood oozing from his forehead.

Zura and Okita blinked once, twice, three times in unison before the Shinsengumi captain shrugged, returning his attention to the joui leader in front of him. His hand twitched again. He didn't have his bazooka, but that was nothing a trusty pair of handcuffs couldn't solve.

"Katsura~" he shouted. Zura snapped to attention, seeing the crazed sadist charging at him out of the corner of his eyes before he turned and ran in the opposite direction. Okita sped after him, determined to catch the criminal this time.

Soon, the sun had set, and night fell on Kabuki-cho. Just another day, really.

And then Gintoki woke up.

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Not really sure about the ending here, but I said everything that I wanted to say. I might write an alternate ending, though, if demand is high, or if I get the urge to do so.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review-I love the compliments _and_ the criticism, so let me know how I'm doing.

Later!

_MidnightxBluexBlack_


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